Q’s All-Grassroots First Team
The point of this article is to include the best five prospects from this past summer in Washington. The NW PREMIER SHOWCASE this year welcomed plenty of players who will eventually make noise at the next level. But as there always is, some players stood above the rest.
So, below, on our All Tournament Team, we’ve decided to recognize the players we found ourselves most impressed with at this past spring and summer sessions.
1st TEAM
PG – Pierre Crockrell Jr., Class of 2019 standing at 6’0 155 pound. Who will attend Garfield High School standout is a great ball handler, most compare his shiftiness to that of Jeff Teague. He has a good consistent jump shot and has developed a tear drop that I swear touches the clouds before going in. He is a good on ball defender who can pressure 94 feet. He is a elite creator for himself and others.
SG – PJ Fuller, Class of 2019 standing at 6’4. Currently attending Nathan Hale is taking flight for dunks on a regular basis. He is considered a combo guard, running the point guard position in a lot of situations. Fuller gets up the court quicker than anybody else on the floor, pushing the ball to lead fast breaks. He displays nice ball handling skills, making shifty moves to blow past defenders. Fuller does a great job getting his teammates involved.
SF – Kevin Porter Jr., Class of 2018 standing at 6’6. Currently attending Rainier Beach has recently committed to USC. Porter has crazy athleticism. He has the ability to play all wing positions. He handles the ball really well, exploding out of moves for pull up jump shots or strong finishes at the rim. He is working on becoming a more consistent shooter
PF – Andre Kelly, Class of 2017 standing at 6’8. Currently playing with Team Arsenal power forward is a very skilled post player. He is a strong athlete who powered his way to several buckets through traffic and some serious contact. He has the length and moves well off ball to get in good positions for easy dunks and layups already though. His defense has really catapulted him in the conversation as one of the better rim protectors. He has some meat but is very bouncy. So those 1st and 2nd shot attempts he can get to.
C – Fardaws Aimaq, Class of 2018 standing at 6’10. He is currently attending Steveston-London Secondary School, Richmond, Canada. I think by now, Fardaws has proved himself to be if not the best, then right there as the best mid college big man in the state. He has the frame and scoring ability to really do some damage down low. At 6’10, his frame is going to add a ton of strength and he’s proven that he can reasonably defend face-up four men which gives him a little more flexibility. Better have offers by the end of this month.
***I would have to say the most impressive player this year was hands down PJ FULLER. Sure, he can score the ball at a high rate, especially in the mid-range. But, he’s also one of the best on-ball defensive players we’ve seen in Washington. His arms are freakishly long, making it nearly impossible to shoot a pull-up jumper against him. Fullers arms, athleticism, and instincts, also make him a terror when he helps on the blindside, which lead to a ton of steals in Akron.
Offensively, Fuller has outstanding footwork. He is very smooth within the arch, as he creates separation and releases high-percentage shots when the defense isn’t expecting it. Fuller can also explode to the basket at will and posturized multiple defenders***